# US 12,120,391 B2 · Methods and apparatus to estimate audience sizes and durations of media accesses > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,120,391 B2 - Document ID: US12120391B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/475,873 - Filed: 2021-09-15 - Published: 2022-03-24 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2020-09-18 - Assignees: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Applicants: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC - Inventors: Michael Richard Sheppard; Dongbo Cui; Jake Ryan Dailey; Edward Murphy; Diane Morovati Lopez - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120391B2 ## CPC - H04N 21/44218: {Detecting physical presence or behaviour of the user, e.g. using sensors to detect if the user is leaving the room or changes his face expression during a TV programme (methods or arrangements for recognising human body or animal bodies or body parts G06V40/10; methods or arrangements for acquiring or recognising human faces, facial parts, facial sketches, facial expressions G06V40/16; methods or arrangements for recognising movements or behaviour G06V40/20; arrangements for identifying users in broadcast systems H04H60/45)} - H04N 21/4532: {involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18)} - H04H 60/29: Arrangements for monitoring broadcast services or broadcast-related services - H04N 21/251: {Learning process for intelligent management, e.g. learning user preferences for recommending movies (details of learning user preferences for the retrieval of video data in a video database G06F16/739; computer systems using learning methods G06N3/08)} - H04N 21/254: Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server {(arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53)} - H04N 21/25866: {Management of end-user data (customer care in data networks H04L41/5077)} - H04N 21/44204: {Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched (monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31)} - H04N 21/44224: {Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing} - H04N 21/4661: {Deriving a combined profile for a plurality of end-users of the same client, e.g. for family members within a home (user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306)} - H04N 21/4667: {Processing of monitored end-user data, e.g. trend analysis based on the log file of viewer selections} - H04H 60/66: for using the result on distributors' side - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - H04H: BROADCAST COMMUNICATION (multiplex communication H04J; pictorial communication aspects of broadcast systems H04N) ## Abstract Methods and apparatus to estimate audience sizes and durations for media accesses are disclosed. An example apparatus at least one memory, instructions, and processor circuitry to execute the instructions to select constraint equations corresponding to one or more events, the one or more events corresponding to a first audience and a second audience, the first audience to include the second audience, and determine, based on the constraint equations and an auxiliary equation, event audience sizes corresponding to the first audience and to the one or more events. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An audience measurement system comprising: a plurality of panel meters located at panelist households, the plurality of panel meters configured to transmit monitoring data representative of media to which panelists were exposed to an audience measurement entity for storage in a panel database, wherein the plurality of panel meters comprise on-device meter systems that locally collect web browsing information; an impression collection server configured to receive census impressions from a plurality of non-panelist devices and store impression-related data indicative of the census impressions in a census database, wherein execution of beacon instructions by web browsers of the non-panelist devices causes the non-panelist devices to send impression requests to the impression collection server via the internet and to provide device identifiers and media identifiers in the impression requests, wherein the media identifiers enable the audience measurement system to identify media accessed via the non-panelist devices, wherein the impression requests are implemented as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests; a computing system comprising a processor and a memory, the computing system configured to: obtain panelist data corresponding to a panel audience from the panel database, the panelist data including: (i) a first panel audience size and a first panel event duration for a first website and (ii) a second panel audience size and a second panel event duration for a second website; obtain census data corresponding to a census audience from the census database, the census data including a first census event duration for the first website, a second census event duration for the second website, and a total census audience size for the first website and the second website; determine a first census audience size for the first website and a second census audience size for the second website by: selecting constraint equations from the memory, the constraint equations corresponding to one or more events, the one or more events corresponding to the first website and the second website; and selecting an auxiliary equation from the memory, the auxiliary equation including (a) the total census audience size, (b) a first universe estimate corresponding to the census audience size, and (c) the first census audience size and the second census audience size; cause storage of the first audience size and the second audience size in a database after determining the first census audience size and the second census audience size based on the constraint equations and the auxiliary equation; and generate a report including the first audience size and the second audience size. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The audience measurement system of claim 1, wherein the computing system is configured to determine the first census audience size and the second census audience size based on the first census event duration, the second census event duration, the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, and the second panel event duration. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The audience measurement system of claim 2, wherein the computing system is configured to select the auxiliary equation based on the first census event duration and the second census event duration. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The audience measurement system of claim 3, wherein the computing system is configured to determine a second universe estimate based on at least one of the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, or the second panel event duration. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The audience measurement system of claim 4, wherein the computing system is configured to determine the first universe estimate based on the second universe estimate, the constraint equations, and the auxiliary equation. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The audience measurement system of claim 1, wherein the one or more events include at least one of accessing at least one the first website or the second website, accessing an advertisement presented by at least one of the first website or the second website, or using a device type to access the at least one of the first website or the second website. ### Claim 7 A method comprising: storing, in a panel database of an audience measurement system, monitoring data representative of media to which panelists were exposed to, the monitoring data received from a plurality of panel meters located at panelist households, the plurality of panel meters comprising on-device meter systems that locally collect web browsing information; receiving, by an impression collection server of the audience measurement system, census impressions from a plurality of non-panelist devices; storing, by the impression collection server, impression-related data indicative of the census impressions in a census database, wherein execution of beacon instructions by web browsers of the non-panelist devices causes the non-panelist devices to send impression requests to the impression collection server via the internet and to provide device identifiers and media identifiers in the impression requests, wherein the media identifiers enable the audience measurement system to identify media accessed via the non-panelist devices, wherein the impression requests are implemented as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests; obtaining, by a computing system of the audience measurement system, panelist data corresponding to a panel audience from the panel database, the panelist data including: (i) a first panel audience size and a first panel event duration for a first website and (ii) a second panel audience size and a second panel event duration for a second website, the first panel audience size and the second panel audience size obtained using panel meters; obtaining, by the computing system, census data corresponding to a census audience from the census database, the census data including a first census event duration for the first website, a second census event duration for the second website, and a total census audience size for the first website and the second website; determining, by the computing system, a first census audience size for the first website and a second census audience size for the second website by: selecting constraint equations from a memory, the constraint equations corresponding to one or more events, the one or more events corresponding to the first website and the second website; and selecting by an auxiliary equation from the memory, the auxiliary equation including (a) the total census audience size, (b) a first universe estimate corresponding to the census audience size, and (c) the first census audience size and the second census audience size; causing, by the computing system, storage of the first audience size and the second audience size in a database after determining the first census audience size and the second census audience size based on the constraint equations and the auxiliary equation; and generating a report including the first audience size and the second audience size. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the first census audience size is determined based on the first census event duration, the second census event duration, the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, and the second panel event duration. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The method of claim 8, wherein the auxiliary equation is selected based on the first census event duration and the second census event duration. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising determining a second universe estimate based on at least one of the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, or the second panel event duration. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the first universe estimate is determined based on the second universe estimate, the constraint equations, and the auxiliary equations. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more events include at least one of accessing at least one of the first website or the second website, accessing an advertisement presented by at least one of the first website or the second website, or using a device type to access the at least one of the first website or the second website. ### Claim 13 A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that when executed by a computing system cause the computing system to: store, in a panel database of an audience measurement system, monitoring data representative of media to which panelists were exposed to, the monitoring data received from a plurality of panel meters located at panelist households, the plurality of panel meters comprising on-device meter systems that locally collect web browsing information; receive, by an impression collection server of the audience measurement system, census impressions from a plurality of non-panelist devices; store, by the impression collection server, impression-related data indicative of the census impressions in a census database, wherein execution of beacon instructions by web browsers of the non-panelist devices causes the non-panelist devices to send impression requests to the impression collection server via the internet and to provide device identifiers and media identifiers in the impression requests, wherein the media identifiers enable the audience measurement system to identify media accessed via the non-panelist devices, wherein the impression requests are implemented as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requests; obtain panelist data corresponding to a panel audience from the panel database, the panelist data including: (i) a first panel audience size and a first panel event duration for a first website and (ii) a second panel audience size and a second panel event duration for a second website; obtain census data corresponding to a census audience from the census database, the census data including a first census event duration for the first website, a second census event duration for the second website, and a total census audience size for the first website and the second website; determine a first census audience size for the first website and a second census audience size for the second website by: selecting constraint equations from computer memory, the constraint equations corresponding to one or more events, the one or more events corresponding to the first website and the second website; and selecting an auxiliary equation from the computer memory, the auxiliary equation including (a) the total census audience size, (b) a first universe estimate corresponding to the census audience size, and (c) the first census audience size and the second census audience size; cause storage of the first audience size and the second audience size in a database after determining the first census audience size and the second census audience size based on the constraint equations and the auxiliary equation; and generate a report including the first audience size and the second audience size. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the computing system to determine the first census audience size and the second census audience size based on the first census event duration, the second census event duration, the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, and the second panel event duration. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions cause the computing system to select the auxiliary equation based on the first census event duration and the second census event duration. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the computing system to determine a second universe estimate based on at least one of the first panel audience size, the second panel audience size, the first panel event duration, or the second panel event duration. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the computing system to determine the first universe estimate based on the second universe estimate, the constraint equations, and the auxiliary equation. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more events include at last one of accessing at least one of the first website or the second website, accessing an advertisement presented by at least one of the first website or the second website, or using a device type to access the at least one of the first website or the second website.